And So It Begins

Today I have a bunch of random stuff running through my brain, so I thought I'd post a few things that are going on around The Crooked Stamper Homestead.

It all began this morning when I tried to open the Kitchen blinds so I could give kitty a view of the great outdoors while I was at work. (If I do not open them, she will head-butt them until they give in, and frankly, up until now, I've preferred to be in charge. Call me crazy.) So the blinds failed me. They had died, completely. You get what you pay for, and I paid $10 for these babies about 15 years ago, so it is time. Welcome to Crooked Stamper Home Repair! Check out what I did:

Here we have the blinds finally open. See that top arrow? It points to the culprit: a completely worn-out thread that is now all balled up on itself, thus no longer allowing the fiber to pass through the hole in the slats, so it bunches up and refuses to move. Bah!

Those arrows at the bottom mark my handiwork...the only thing keeping the blinds from bonking the cat on the head.

And here we have a (fuzzy) close-up of my I-am-late-for-work solution: nylon rope. Yeppers, and it sure works fine. Proud of myself (but an embarrassment to the rest of my family, I am sure), I left confidently for work.

The Day Job was eventful...one of those days when you are so busy you forget you forgot lunch, so you run down the the cafeteria to see what they have left, and you end up with a 'safe' turkey sandwich. The excitement of my life continues to build.

On the way home from work it started to rain. Great. Rain in the DC commuting world means "slow down, act stupid, and add 30 minutes to everyone else's commute". Not me, of course, but everyone else was acting that way; I was just yelling at them. Criminey - you'd think it was a blizzard or something. The roads were not even wet. It was barely raining! You can go more than 25 mph on the expressway, people!!!!! Ahem... Since it took me so long to get home, by the time I actually got here, the rain had turned to sleet, and it was mushy walking from my car to my front door. Oh, joy. Winter in DC has arrived, and the loonies are already out there. Anyone want to take bets on if schools are closed tomorrow? Or at least delayed 2 hours? I say YES! Sigh ...

Next up: I put away the rest of the ribbon and punches and stamp sets from the workshops, and admired this:

Now here is something not often seen in these parts: the top of my Dining Room table! Look now, because I am about to begin Book 2 of my Road Trip scrapbook that I started last year. It is time. And the table top shall be buried here very shortly!

A quick workshop update: my customers continue to amaze me. I know, I sound like a broken record, but seriously, I set out projects, and the next thing I know, there are people mixing things up all over the place... Swapping out one punch for another... arranging the parts-is-parts differently than my serving suggestion (always encouraged!) ... flipping over double-sided paper to get a different look ... using red ribbon that I put out at the last second "just in case" they did not want all the ones I just knew they'd want to use instead ... you know - mixing it up! It was great!!!!

Kitty assumed her position as soon as the first few coats arrived with their people. She is quite the multi-tasker: guarding the coats and warming the coats while simultaneously napping. Hard to believe, but here's your proof!

Oh, look - round 2. Guard duty can be so utterly exhausting.

The other thing that amazed me was how a project I thought was totally lame was the hit of the day. No, I am not kidding! I expected yawns, rolling eyes, and a bit of whining, but nope! It was embraced by all!

This is a plastic ornament from the craft store. I cut up lots of 12x12 pieces of DS papers, bundling each set together with a piece of ribbon. Each customer selected a bunch of papers, then rolled each piece around a wooden skewer and popped it into their globe. When they were all done, they could tie a piece of ribbon around the top and add a piece of silver elastic cord for hanging it. Too easy (and it used up a whole raft of last year's Holiday papers!) The cool thing about this project is you can make ornaments any color you want - like pink & purple! How cool would that be!?!

Now I am tired and my brain is empty enough to go to bed. After I put the clothes in the dryer. Does it seem to you I am constantly doing laundry?! Yeah, me, too. Thanks for reading this far, and I hope to have some scrappin' to show off later this week.